Ready for the next level

CLEMSON - Dwayne Allen will probably never run another 40-yard dash for the rest of his life, and that's just fine by him.

During the Clemson Pro Day on Thursday, the Mackey Award winning tight end elected not to see if he could post a time better than the 4.78 he turned in at last month's NFL Combine.

"I'm a ball player, flat out. If I wanted to run track, I'd be over there with [Clemson track coach] [Lawrence] Johnson learning from him, or at the Olympic trials," Allen said. "My 40 time is what it is. If you watch me on film, I play way faster. That's all that matters."

Allen thinks his performance at pro day was a solid one.

"Personally, I felt like I did [well]. I haven't talked to anyone. I'll have to talk to my agent to see what type of feedback I got from the work-out, what they thought about it," he said. "It was definitely satisfying for me."

The 6-foot-3, 255-pound prospect said his versatility was on display for the 44 scouts in Clemson.

"Working with the coaching staff that was out here, they allowed me to split out wide, come into the slot and operate from the tradition tight end position," Allen said. "I believe I was smooth getting in and out of my cuts. I ran crisp routes and I caught the ball well."

With the combine and pro day now behind him, Allen can focus on something he hasn't had much time for over the last two months.

"It's been go, go, go since the season," he said. "I haven't had time to heal my body. I'm probably going to take a couple of days off, then start lifting and preparing for next season.

"There's no break in the sport of football. It's a year-round sport."

Just where Allen ends up for his first season in the NFL won't be determined for another month. But the All-American doesn't plan on spending much time trying to figure out when he'll go and where he'll land.

He ignores the mock drafts and all the pre-draft chatter.

"I don't pay attention to it at all. It doesn't matter where I go. That's the way I feel about it. Hopefully, I'll land on a team that's going to use me," Allen said.